Posted by RHS on 12/05/10

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Hi, I am renting out a single home to a family in
California. A few weeks ago, my tenant called to tell me
that they saw a rodent on the house. This is a brand new
house, only a year old, and there aren't any constructions
near the area. I asked if their neighbors were having
rodent ppronlems and they said no. Since the rodent problem
began few months after their move into the house, it's
reasonable to say that the rodents came into the house due
to the tenants' actions. However, I told them to remove the
food from the pantry, clean the house, and set traps, for
which I will reimburse. For the following week, they called
numerous times to report additional rodent-sightings around
the house and started to threaten to break the lease. So a
week after their initial notice of this problem to me, I
called the exterminator to investigate the premise. The
exterminator company reported that the tenents were
unresponsive when the company tried to make an appointment
for the inspection. Finally, they were able to make an
appointment a week after the company's initial attempt to
contact the tenants. When the exterminators inspected the
house, they determined the house is completely rat-proof
and there was no possible entrance for any rodents.
Furthermore, there were no rodents present in the house at
the time of the inspection. Now the tenant is demanding
that I pay for the pest control outside the house and to
reimburse for outdoor pest control cost they have incurred
in the past without my knowledge. My question is: 1) given
the conditions above, should I (the landlord) ask the
tenant to pay for the rodent inspection?; 2) am I liable
for outdoor lawn pest control, past and in the future?

The lease agreement does not specify outdoor pest control.

I greatly appreciate your input. Thank you!

Lawn pest control , 12/05/10, by RHS.

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